How does the postal service work in the UK?

The Royal Mail company is in charge of the postal service in the United Kingdom and offers services both within and outside the country. Its foundation took place in the year 1516, which makes it one of the oldest postal and telegraph companies on the planet. The company is under the control of the British Government.

Below you have an index with all the points that we are going to deal with in this article.

ZIP codes

When they give us an address in the United Kingdom, the postal code always appears at the beginning of it, in which one or two letters appear, be it W, WC, S, etc. But what do these initials mean in any British postal code?

Focusing on London, the answer is the following: they correspond to the different geographical areas of the city. The same happens for the rest of cities in the United Kingdom. Thus, the meaning of each letter is:

The two digits that follow this letter or letters represent the postal district and the next three, the postal sector and the point of delivery. Let's see a real example with the address of the Embassy of Spain in London: 39, Chesham Place, London SW1X 8SB. Below we analyze your zip code in detail to see what each digit means:

Typical UK mailboxes

The mailboxes of the Royal Mail of the United Kingdom are easily visible and are characterized by being red with some black details and by bearing the royal monogram in relief of the current monarch of the United Kingdom, in this case, the Queen isabel II, whose actual monogram is I I R.

However, mailboxes with the royal code of King George V, whose monogram was GR (G de George y R de Rex, this is, Rey In latin).

Post Boxes in the UK - by Mike Cattell

Although today they are red in color, early UK mailboxes were olive green, because they were intended to blend in with the green views of the country. This color was maintained until 1874, when it was found that they were difficult for people to find because, indeed, they blends in with the landscape.

At that time they became chocolate brown, but this option did not end up being liked either, so in 1879 the decision was made that they should be deep and bright red. Since that year, this color has been maintained and today mailboxes are one of the most iconic symbols of the United Kingdom.

Rates for sending packages

Royal Mail rates are divided into two types: first class (1st class) and second class (2nd class). First-class mail is considered express mail and any letter or package sent under this rate must be delivered to its recipient the next day.

In contrast, the second class is not considered urgent and can take up to three days to reach its destination. Rates vary depending on the geographical area:

• Shipping within the UK: a stamp for a first class shipment costs at least 62 p and for a second class one, the price is from 53 p, always depending on the size and weight of what we are going to send.
• Shipments to Europe: the price of a stamp for Europe is between 50-80p and varies according to size and weight. It usually takes 3 to 5 days.
• Shipments to the United States: For transoceanic shipments, the price of a stamp with the International Economy rate ranges from 81p up, depending on the weight and size of the package or letter you send, and it can take up to 6 weeks. On the other hand, with the International Standard rate, the stamp costs you from 97 p, but it takes a minimum of 5 days and a maximum of 7.

Royal Mail

In the image below we can see the map shown by the Royal Mail company to show its international rates, which are divided into three zones: Europe (light gray), zone 1 (red) and zone 2 (dark gray). In this way, below we show you a table with the standard rates for sending letters (up to 100 g) internationally:

For shipping small packages (100g max), the standard rates are as shown in the following table:

Royal Mail international rates

Offices

To send letters and packages, you must go to one of the different post offices that are distributed throughout the United Kingdom, which are called Post Office in English. The opening hours of most main post offices are from Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 17:30 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Aside from the main offices, many kiosks act as sub-offices and offer this service as well. In addition, most of these offices also offer the free currency exchange service, although it must be previously requested via the Internet on their official website, which you can access by clicking on this link.

UK Post Office Sign

Shipping tracking and postage rates

The Royal Mail company offers an extra package tracking service called Track Order, for which you will have to pay an extra fee if you want to hire it.

Thanks to him, we get a locator number (parcel number) of 13 digits in which capital letters and numbers are combined. Internationally, it is called International Tracked & Signed And, as with the standard service, it has different rates depending on how you send letters or packages.

Below we show you the prices for sending letters (100 g max.):

For shipping small packages (100 g max.), The rates are as follows:

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